A Tangled Web
by Neko-chan -Silvered Tongue
Summary: A new girl has arrived at Ohtori Academy. She is different from the others, though. What change could she possibly bring? [Note: It takes place in the Black Rose Saga.]
1. Blood And Roses

**__**A Tangled Web

By: Neko-chan

  
  


Disclaimer: I do not own Revolutionary Girl Utena, though I am a HUGE fan. So please don't sue me. *grins* 'Kay? 'Kay. 'Cause if you do.....all I'll be able to do it turn my pockets inside out. Do you want to add a couple of lint balls to your keepsakes? I think not.

Warning: This ficcie contains spoilers for the Black Rose Saga---to a certain extent.

  
  


**Prelude of a Blood Red Rose**

The web was tangled; she could see that it was far-reaching, it affected everyone in the school. The young girl watched as the spider spun his web, and preyed on the ones weaker than he.

He was dangerous, she knew. He could have become so much more, he could have had the power to revolutionize the world. But he succumbed to evil; the thirst for power controlled him. In his soul, he was dead.

_And I will stop you, now and forever, spiteful spider_, she thought as she watched Utena begin her journey that would one day lead her to Revolution. _For my web is even more tangled, more complex._

*** * ***

Mikage pushed his glasses up further on his nose with one delicate finger. Raising an eyebrow, he stared at the young girl sitting across from him. "You have just recently transferred to Ohtori Academy recently, have you not?"

She inclined her head slightly, making a strand of long red-orange hair fall across a shoulder. "Yes," she said softly, her gray eyes wide with innocence.

Mikage smiled, "And why do you want to join my sessions?"

Her head cocked and she replied, "Because I want to make friends."

The senior leaned towards her, his fingers steepled. His pink hair fell forward, shadowing his eyes. "Deeper.......go deeper."

The girl stared at him, her eyes searching. Her gaze seemed to pierce right through him; it seemed to see his soul. Her gray eyes narrowed, as if he didn't like what she saw. Mikage shifted in his seat, suddenly anxious. "No other reason," she finally replied after long moments.

Mikage leaned back in his leather hair. His eyebrows raised in surprise. "No other reasons? You do not wish to go deeper?"

The gray eyes hardened. "No. I have no other reasons, and I do not wish to go deeper. Can we please continue this discussion at a later time? I have an appointment with Head Chairman Akio Ohtori." She quickly stood, then bowed.

When the new student had left, Mikage sat there, staring at the wooden door she had exited through. Reaching for the folder in front of him, he flipped it open.

"Kenji Arashi.......let's see if you would make a good duelist, shall we not?" Then, with a decisive snap, he closed the folder and left his office.


	2. Noting Is As It Appears To Be

Akio leaned against the railing to his balcony, smiling slightly as he surveyed the Ohtori Academy below him. _Mine......all mine_, he thought. _And no one can stop me. Especially not Utena Tenjou._

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Akio quickly put his 'Chairman of the Board' face on and walked over to his desk, settling into the soft seat. "Come in," he called as he shuffled several papers, trying to look busy.

The door slowly opened, and Akio raised his eyes, curious to see who would come to him without being summoned. A girl stepped through the doorway. She was pretty----startling so. Her thigh length red-orange hair swirled around her; a fiery storm. Her eyes were an unusual color, Akio had never seen the likes before. They were a clear storm cloud gray. But her looks wasn't the most unusual thing about her. Like Utena, she wore a boys uniform. But this girl's uniform was completely different. Her shorts were black, as was her shirt. Even her shoes and ankle length socks were black.

She walked softly through the door, bowed to him, and took the seat in front of him without an invitation. Akio frowned thoughtfully. _Something's different about this one......but I don't know what, at least not yet._

"And who might you be?" Akio asked, giving the young girl his most charming smile. Many girls before had swooned over that smile, and he expected her to do so as well. But all she did was tilt her head curiously.

"My name is Arashi Kenji," she replied softly, her head still tilted, surveying the Chairman absently. _Your charmingness won't work on me, you baka_, she thought smugly. _It takes more than that to catch a fox........or, in this case, another spider._

Akio's smile dimmed somewhat when he saw that it had no effect whatsoever on the new student. "Ah, yes, Arashi Kenji. You've just transferred here, am I correct?" Arashi inclined her head. At that, Akio frowned thoughtfully. "If you arrange your name, surname first, doesn't it mean Fire Tempest?" For some reason, the word 'Kenji' seemed to set off warning bells in his mind.

Arashi giggled, the type of giggle she saw the infatuated girls surrounding Akio and Touga do. "Why Chairman of the Board, I'm surprised! Not many people notice that about my name! Yes, if you put the surname first, my name _does_ mean Fire Tempest." _And shows more about my personality than meets the eye......._

At this, Akio nodded. "That's nice...." he said distantly. _I guess that I was wrong, she** is** like any other girl._ Leaning forward he looked at her thoughtfully. "Tell me, Arashi, why do you wear that uniform? Have you seen Utena Tenjou and thought that if you dressed like her, you'd be popular too?"

Arashi shook her head. "No, Chairman. I haven't met anyone from the Academy so far. I wear this uniform because it's more comfortable. After all, if there was an emergency and I had to run, wouldn't it be hard to run in a skirt?" _And plus too, it reminds me of....._ "And that's why I wear this uniform."

Akio nodded absently, already more interested in his paperwork than this boring, dull girl. "It was nice meeting you," he said, waving a hand in her direction. It was an obvious dismissal. Arashi rose and extended a hand, intending to shake hands with Akio. Akio glanced up, about to dismiss her once more. But then he stopped, his attention caught by something.

A ring. It was gold, nothing extraordinary about that. Many of the female students had gold rings exactly like Arashi's. But it was the design on the ring that made Akio stare in surprise. For this seemingly ordinary gold ring had a silver rose design on the front. This seemingly ordinary girl was a Duelist. And neither he nor Souji Mikage had given her a ring.


	3. And The Two Shall Meet

"What is that?" Akio asked softly, staring at Arashi's ring in surprise. He reached forward and grabbed her hand, bringing it closer to his body, so as to examine the ring closer. Distantly, he noticed that Arashi's hand was cool; no warmth seeped from it.

"Where did you get this?" he continued his questions, firing them off rapidly. "Who gave this to you? Do you know? Would you recognize the person?"

Arashi slowly blinked, trying to look as dim-witted as possible. It wasn't that hard to fool the Chairman. He thought that she was a certain type of girl--if she gave him that image, he wouldn't think to look beyond the surface. No one ever did.

"A friend gave it to me," the red-head answered truthfully. "It was a long time ago, I don't remember how long. My friend told me...to keep it safe and to listen with my heart, and to fight for it."

Akio frowned. It sounds like something that Dios would say to an idealistic child, he thought to himself. But...that cannot be. Dios hasn't left the castle since he visited Utena when she was a child. And this girl is younger than her by about two years... Aloud, he said, "Who was this person, this friend?"

Arashi shrugged eloquently. "I don't remember," she replied. Then, gently tugging her hand from the dark man's grasp, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Akio watched her leave, deep in thought.

I wonder....what did Mikage think of her when they met? I sense that something is different about her...but what? She seems normal...could I be wrong? Yes; I may be...just this one time, however.

* * *

Arashi wandered around the large campus, looking at the different things. When she came to Touga and his female admirers, she gave the group a large berth. She hated men who toyed with females' hearts, just as much as she hated the females that let themselves be used. It was stupid, and no one profited in the end.

Touga noticed her and shot her his most charming grin, trying to detach himself from three girls that were hanging on him. Arashi shot him a dark glare and ducked into a doorway, hurrying down a hallway. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with the Student Council President! Even though Akio hadn't sensed who she really was, Touga might have been able to. And Arashi couldn't take that risk.

She continued wandering down hallways, peeking into classrooms and other rooms. All in all, Ohtori seemed like any other academy...but bigger. Bigger, most definitely. It made the red-head feel small, younger than what she was. It was a new feeling, and a feeling that she didn't like, want, or welcome. And so, scowling, she continued her private tour.

After ten more minutes, Arashi came to a field, where several boys and a girl were playing baseball. She stopped in the doorway and continued to watch the game. The girl, who Arashi recognized as Utena, played as well as the guys, if not better. She smiled to herself and her gray eyes danced as she watched Utena catch a fly ball, while the opposite team cursed themselves for not picking her.

Stepping more fully out from the doorway, Arashi slowly made her way down the steps and sat on the last step, curling her legs under herself. A little ways away, a pretty black girl, Anthy, fed food crumbs to a large mouse, while a handsome youth watched Anthy with besotted eyes. Arashi grinned to herself before she continued watching the game. The 'besotted youth' was Miki, and he wasn't only besotted with Anthy. He was in love with her. Arashi hoped that they would get the happily-ever-after that they deserved.

"I got it!!" Utena suddenly yelled and started running backwards, keeping her eye on the flying ball. Because of that, she didn't notice Arashi until she tripped over the red-head's long legs and fell on top of her with a loud 'Oomph!'

Utena blinked wide blue eyes and looked around. She was supposed to have fallen on hard stone. Instead, what she had fallen on was soft, squishy, and felt remarkably like a human body...

With a gasp, the pink haired girl stood up and stared down at the girl she had squished. "Are you alright?" she quickly asked, offering Arashi a hand up.

Arashi grinned up at the person she had been sent to monitor and took Utena's hand, pulling herself up and dusting herself off once she had regained her balance. "Yes, I'm alright," she replied, answering Utena's question. Continuing with a grin, she said, "But I think that you sat on my spleen. It feels kinda squished."

Utena laughed. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention on where I was running and that's why I ran into you. Next time, I promise that I won't sit on your spleen." She grinned wickedly. "I'll land on your gallbladder. Deal?"

Arashi grinned back. "Deal," she said and bent down to retrieve the girl's ball. Tossing it to Utena, Arashi asked, "Do you need any more players? I haven't played in a while, but I miss the game."

Utena eyed Arashi up and down, taking in the girl's long, red-orange hair (which Arashi was currently tying up in a ponytail bun), her unusual gray eyes, and black boy's clothing. Thinking for a moment, she nodded and her grin broadened. "Sure! We need another player on our team anyway. The others think that they can beat my team because they let a girl play."

Shrugging off her shirt, until she was left in only her black tank top, Arashi retorted: "Well, let's give them something to think about. Maybe next time, they'd want us on their team."

"Yeah, we will!" Utena added, laughing. It was strange, but it was like she and Arashi were kindred spirits; or, at least, friends from long ago. But so long ago that it seemed more like a dream than anything else... An image flashed in her mind, almost too fast to catch: Her Prince, bending down upon one knee and holding her tightly, whispering endearments in her ear. She cuddled closer, needing the warmth and love that he offered her. Looking over his shoulder, she noticed a dark knight, her armor black as night, sitting upon a huge black horse. Long red-orange hair swirled around her, and she looked down at the Prince and his Princess with distant gray eyes. Utena blinked and shook her head. I must be dreaming... she thought to herself. That night had seemed a little too much like Arashi...

And so, the two girl made their way back to the baseball field, grinning good-naturally. And, of course, the two girls-together-beat the boys. Badly. After the game, the males wandered away, heading back towards their dormitories, complaining about the fact that they now had to deal with two Utena Tenjous. 

Finally, Anthy stood, followed by Miki. "That was a wonderful game, Miss Utena," she said, smiling softly. She handed the pink-haired girl a towel and Utena took it gratefully. She then turned her attention to Arashi and her eyes sparked in recognition, though the others didn't notice. Arashi smiled slightly and her gray eyes danced in unholy amusement. Never taking her eyes off of Arashi, Anthy bowed. "It is nice to meet you," she greeted. "I am Anthy and this is Miki. Who are you?"

"I am Arashi Kenji," Arashi replied while Anthy's eyes widened in amazement. Looks as if someone finally recognizes me, Arashi thought with amusement to herself. "I'm a new transfer student at Ohtori Academy. I just got here today; tomorrow is my first actual day. The Chairman and Headmaster said that my dormitory is in the same building as yours and Utena's. Could you please show me where I bunk? I'm still new and I don't know where everything is. Plus too, I've had a long, busy day and I'm tired."

"Sure! We'll show you where you sleep!" Utena exclaimed, happy that someone else besides her and Anthy was going to sleep in the 'haunted' dormitory building. Maybe now the rumors that it was haunted would stop. Probably not, but a person's gotta hope, ne?

"Please follow us," Anthy added softly. I wonder...did Akio remember who Arashi is? Her name gives a hint... But then again, both Arashi and Akio are masters of illusion. Will he ever realize who she truly is? I wonder...


End file.
